Adaptors for landing gears of semi-trailer trucks



Dec. 16, 1958 D. CLEJAN 2,364,321

ADAPTORS FOR LANDING GEARS OF SEMI-TRAILER TRUCKS Filed April 12, 1955 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR. d ape?" 625w? Dec. 16, 1958 D. CLEJAN2,854,321

ADAPTORS FOR LANDING GEARS 0F SEMI-TRAILER TRUCKS Filed April 12, 1955 4Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

Dec. 16, 1958 CLEJAN 2,864,321

ADAPTORS FOR LANDING GEARS OF SEMI-TRAILER TRUCKS Filed April 12, 1955 4Sheets-Sheet 3 atent fitice ADAPTORS FOR LANDIYG GEARS F SEMI-TRAILERTRUCKS Deodat Clejan, New York, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments,to Piggy-Back, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication April 12, 1955, Serial No. 500,761

14 Claims. (Cl. 105-368) This invention relates to adaptors for thelanding gears of semi-trailer trucks to enable them to be used inrailand-road transportation systems.

A system of rail-and-road transportation in which the present inventionmay be used is described in pending application Serial No. 464,535,filed October 25, 1954, by Etienne DeGrandpre, and owned by the owner ofthis application. The system therein described includes railway carshaving narrow frames lying wholly between the inner sides of the wheelsof their running gears and providing an outwardly facing track of narrowgauge for supporting road vehicles which have in addition to their roadwheels inwardly facing flanged wheels mounted between the planes of theinner surfaces of their road wheels.

Pending application Serial No. 499,461, filed April 5, 1955 by EtienneDeGrandpre, and owned by the owner of the present application, describesa railway unit for use in such a system in which a semi-trailer providedwith flanged wheels on its running gear and its landing gear is mountedon a track provided by the frame of a railway car and is held againstforward and rearward movement on the car by means engaging part of itsrunning gear. To keep the wheels mounted on the landing gear on thetracks, they are provided with hold-down means, which have a slidingengagement with the frame of the railway car so that the landing gear isfree from the forward and rearward stresses between the road vehicle andthe railway car.

In the railway unit described in said application, the trailer truck isprovided with a special landing gear having flanged wheels. My inventionis directed to avoiding the necessity of special landing gear byproviding an adaptor which may be applied to the landing gears ofstandard semi-trailers intended forroad use to enable them to be used aspart of a railway unit in a rail-and-road transportation system.

Objects of the invention are to provide an adaptor which may easily besecured to the landing gears of existing semi-trailer trucks and whichwill protect the landing gear from injurious strains.

A further object of my invention is to provide the adaptor, not onlywith wheels for running on a track, but also with hold-down means tokeep the wheels on the track.

In accordance with my invention, the adaptor consists of alight beamwhose ends may easily be attached at the lower ends of the legs of asemi-trailer landing gear and wheels mounted on the beam and positionedto run on a track whose gauge is diflerent from the separation of thelegs of the landing gear.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I will describe indetail the specific embodiments of it which are shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. '1 is a side view of part of a railway unit consisting of a trailermounted on a railway car;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the railway car showing theconstruction of its frame which provides a track;

Fig. 3 is a side View, partially in section, of the lower Patented Dec.16, 1958 end of one of the legs of a landing gear commonly used onsemi-trailers;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial transverse section on the line 4--4 ofFig. 1 showing the landing gear of the trailer with an adaptor embodyingmy invention applied thereto;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the adaptor and associated parts partiallysectioned on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on the line 77 of Fig. 6 showing themechanism for operating the hold-down means;

Fig. 8 is a side view sectioned on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7 showing thehold-down means and the operating mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a detailed horizontal section on the line of Fig. 6;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of a part of the hold-down operatingmechanism shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of a modified form of adaptor embodying myinvention; i

Fig. 12 is a plan view of the adaptor sectioned on the line 12-12 ofFig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a plan view of the adaptor sectioned on the line 1313 of Fig.11;

Fi 14 is an enlarged transverse section of the adaptor taken on the line1414 of Fig. 11 and Fig. 15 is an enlarged section on the axis of one ofthe track wheels of the adaptor.

The railway unit shown in Fig. 1 includes a railway car 10 and one ormore semi-trailers 30 supported thereon.

The railway car 10 has a long narrow box-like frame 11 consisting of twolong I-beams 12 secured together by cross-braces 13 in the form of shortI-bearns. The ends of the frame of the car are supported on the bolsters14 of four-wheel trucks 15 of usual construction. The frame 11 of thecar lies wholly inside the planes of the inner surfaces of the wheels'ofthe running gear and the upper outer flanges 16 of the long I-beams 12provide the rails of a narrow gauge track for supporting inwardly facingflanged wheels.

A semi-trailer, such as that shown in Fig. 1, is ordinarily providedwith a so-called landing gear whose purpose is to provide means forsupporting the trailer upright on a road when the trailer is detachedfrom the tractor which supports one end of the trailer in travel on aroad. The form of the landing gear of ordinary semi-trailers is shown inFigs. 3 and 4. It consists of two extensible and com tractibletelescoped legs 35 extending downwardly from the body or chassis of thevehicle. To provide for extension and contraction of the legs 35, it isusual to have either the screw and gear mechanism 37 shown in Fig. 4 oran equivalent hydraulic mechanism. The lower end of each leg 35ordinarily carries a T-shaped bearing piece 38 through which extends ashaft 39 on the ends of which are mounted two small wheels 36 calleddolly wheels.

It will be noted that the ordinary landing gear construction is welladapted to sustain vertical loads but ill adapted to resist horizontalor twisting strains at the lower ends of its legs. The spacing of thelegs of thelanding gear dilfers in different trailers, but is nearlyalways greater than the distance between the flanges 16' forming thetrack on the railway car on which the trailer is to be carried. g Y Theadaptor '49 shown in Figs. 1 and 4 to 10 may be applied to any trailerregardless of the separation of its legs. The attachment consistsessentially of a light rigid beam 41 in the form of a long trough havinga semicircular bottom, vertical sides and external flanges 43 turnedoutwardly and downwardly. 'The trough 41 has a width sutflcient toreceive the dolly wheels 36 of a trailer landing gear and a lengthsuflicient to enableit extend between the legs of a trailer landing gearhaving the greatest separation customarily used in trailers.

The trough 41 is secured to the landing gear by placing it so as toreceive the dolly wheels of the landing gear and thensecuring it to atleast two of the dolly wheels by clamping strips 45. Each clamping strip45 is curved to fit over the top of one of the dolly wheels and isprovided at its ends with two hooks 46. The end of each hook passesaround one of the flanges 43 of the trough and enters a recess of acrimped bar 47 secured between the depending portion of one of theflanges 43 and the trough. The upper ends of the hooks are threaded andprovided with nuts 48 to engage the top of the clamping strip 45'anddraw it down against the upper edge of the trough and the top of thedolly wheel 36. To prevent rattling, it is desirable to provide pads 49of rubber or similar material between the clamping strip and the edgesof the trough and between the clamping strip and the top of the dollywheel.

It is apparent that the means which have been described provide for aquick and easy attachment of the trough 41 to the legs of the landinggear regardless of the amount of separation of the legs.

The beam or trough 41 is provided with two symmetrically placed pairs ofwheels 42, each of a gauge to fit the track 16 of the railway car. Thewheels 42 of the adaptor are mounted on stub shafts 50 extending betweentransverse plates 51 attached to the trough 41. Each wheel 42 is formedto provide a track wheel, and a wheel to rest on the ground to replacethe dolly wheels which are within the trough. Each wheel 42 thusconsists of a flanged wheel in which the ordinary narrow flange isreplaced by a wide flange 52 which may serve the purpose of a dollywheel.

Even in cases in which the gauge of the track 16 is considerably lessthan the distance between the legs of the landing gear, lateral twistingstrains on the legs are avoided by the rigidity of the hen n 41.resulting from its trough-like form.

The beam 41 carries hold-down elements to prevent its wheels 42 fromjumping from the track 16. The holddown elements may be projectedinwardly below the plane of the bottoms of the smaller portions 53 ofthe wheels 42 so as to lie under the flanges 16 of the frame of therailway car and have a sliding engagement with them. The hold-downelements illustrated are hookshaped members 60 (Figs. 1, 5, 7) which arepivoted on fixed shafts 61 extending across a long shallow box 62secured to the bottom of the trough 41. The shafts 61 extend between theside walls of the box in openings provided in the bottom of the box inalignment with the wheels 42.

Actuating means for the hold-down elements 60 provide for moving thembetween their operative position shown in Figs. and 6 and inoperativeposition in which they are turned up so as to be clear of the rail 16,and for locking them in each position. The actuating means includes arms63 attached to the pivoted hold-down elements 60 and connected by rodsor wires 64 to the arms 65 of discs 66 pivoted on vertical studs 67 nearthe ends of the box 62. The rotary motion of each disc 66 is limited byengagement of stop bolts 68 with the ends of arcuate slots 69 in thedisc. A tension spring 70 in the box 62 is attached to each disc 66 inthe manner shown in Fig. so that its inner end swings across the centeror the disc when the disc is turned between its two extreme positions.The spring serves to lock the disc in either of its extreme positions.Each disc is provided with a handle 71 projecting through the side ofthe box 62. This makes it possible to actuate the hold-down elementsfrom either side of the railway unit.

In the use of the adaptor which has been described, it may be retainedon the landing gear both when the truck is used on the road and when itis transported on a railwa car. In road use, the usual contraction ofthe legs 35 of the landing gear raises the adaptor well clear of theground so that it does pot interfere with road operation. When thetrailer is to be disconnected from its tractor, the legs 35 may beextended in the usual way so as to bring the enlarged portions 52 of thewheels 42 into contact with the ground where they serve the purpose ofthe ordinary dolly wheels.

When the trailer is to be transported by rail, it is placed on the trackon the frame of a railway car, for example, by means of a tractor asdescribed in the aforesaid application Serial No. 464,535, and the legs35 of the running gear are then extended sufiiciently to bring thesmaller portions 53 of the wheels 42 into engagement with the flanges 16of the frame of the railway car. One or the other of the handles 71 isoperated to project the holddown elements 60 under the flanges 16 sothat the wheels are prevented from jumping from the flanges 16, whilethey are at the same time free to move lengthwise on these flanges torelieve the landing gear of the force of longitudinal stresses betweenthe trailer and the railway car.

The modified adaptor shown in Figs. ll to 15 consists essentially of anopen-bottom beam which permits the dolly wheels of the landing gear toproject below it when it is applied to the legs of the landing gear. Thebeam is provided with small wheels or rollers to run upon tracks, and itis unnecessary to make these rollers in a form which can replace thedolly wheels since the projection of the dolly wheels through the openbottom of the beam permits the use of these wheels for their usualpurpose.

The specific adaptor illustrated in Figs. ll to 15 is intended forapplication to the landing gear of trailers in which the legs of thelanding gear are separated by a standard distance. The adaptor 89consists essentially of a light rigid fabricated beam 81 made up ofupper and lower rectangular frames 82, 33 secured together by inclinedside pieces 84 and stiffened by transverse members S5. The parts of thebeam 81 most desirably consist of hollow tubing as shown in order tomake the beam as light as possible. The rectangular upper and lowermembers 82, 83 each have a width slightly greater than the diameter ofthe usual dolly wheels of a trailer and the end portions of the lowermember 33 are open so that the dolly wheels may project downwardlythrough them.

On-the lower rectangular member of the beam 83 are mounted two pairs ofsmall wheels or rollers 86 of the same gauge as the track 16 on therailway car on which they are to run. In order to guide the wheels 86 onthe track, they may be provided with ordinary wheel flanges at theirouter ends. A less expensive means for guiding the wheels on the tracksis a short guard 88 projecting downwardly from one of the tubes of thelower rectangular member 83 at the outer end of each roller 86 and ofsuflicient length to engage the edge of the track 16 when the roller 86rests on the track, as shown in Fig. 15.

To provide for mounting the beam 81 across the lower ends of the legs ofthe landing gear of a truck, curved cross-pieces 89 extend between thesides of the lower rectangular frame near each end thereof. Thesecrosspieces are separated by the same distance as the legs 35 of thelanding gear so that each of them may engage the bottom of one of thelegs, as best shown in Fig. 14. To hold these cross-pieces against theends of the legs, two U-shaped members 90 are provided to engage theupper surfaces of the T-shaped bearing members 38 at the lower ends ofthe legs 35 between the dolly wheels 36 (see Fig. 3). The arms of theU-shaped member 90 are inserted through holes 91 in vertical plates 92extending between the side members of the upper and lower rectangularframes near the ends thereof. When inserted through these holes, thearms of the member 90 overlie the bearing members 38 of the legs 35, asshown in Fig. 14. Each U-shaped member is held in position by a catch93.

When the beam 80 is mounted on the ends of the legs 35 by means of thecross-pieces 89 and the U-shaped members 90, the lower edge of the framelies above the lower surfaces of the dolly wheels 36 of the landinggear, as shown in Fig. 14, so that the beam does not interfere with useof the dolly wheels for their intended purpose of supporting the traileron the ground when it is detached from a tractor.

When the trailer is to be transported by rail, the four rollers 86 onthe beam rest on track 16 provided at the outer edges of the frame of arailway car, and the outer edges of the track are engaged by thedepending guards 88 to guide the rollers on the tracks.

Although the rollers 86 are some distance from the legs 35 of therunning gear, the rigidity of the frame is such that no lateral twistingstrains are brought on the legs 35.

What I claim is:

1. An adaptor for the landing gears of semi-trailer trucks to enablethem to be used in a rail-and-road transportation system, comprising arigid beam, means located adjacent each end of said beam for attachingthe beam to a trailer landing gear so that it extends between the lowerends of the legs of the landing gear, wheels pivoted on said beam andpositioned to run on a track of a gauge different from the separation ofthe legs of the landing gear, and means for guiding the wheels adaptedto engage an edge of such a track.

2. An adaptor as claimed in claim 1, having two pairs of track Wheelsplaced at equal distances from the axis of the beam so that they bringno twisting strains on the legs of the landing gear to which the beam isattached.

3. An adaptor for the landing gears of semi-trailer trucks to enablethem to be used in a rail-and-road transportation system, comprising arigid beam, attachment means near the ends of the beam for embracing andclamping parts of the landing gear located at the lower ends of its legsso that the beam extends between the lower ends of the legs of thelanding gear, wheels pivoted on said beam and positioned to run on atrack of a gauge different from the separation of the legs of thelanding gear, and means for guiding the wheels adapted to engage an edgeof such a track.

4. An adaptor as claimed in claim 3, in which the beam has the form of atrough with a semi-circular bottom, and the attachment means comprisesdetachable cross-members adapted to clamp two of the dolly wheels of thelanding gear in said trough in any longitudinal position.

5. An adaptor as claimed in claim 3, in which the beam has the form of atrough with a semi-circular bottom and extending lateral flanges, theattachment means comprises detachable cross-members engaging saidflanges to clamp two of the dolly wheels of the landing gear in saidtrough in any longitudinal position, and the wheels are mounted on stubshafts extending between pairs of transverse plates secured externallyon the trough.

6. An adaptor as claimed in claim 3, in which the beam has the form of atrough with a semi-circular bottom, the attachment comprises membersadapted to clamp two of the dolly wheels of the landing gear in saidtrough in any longitudinal position, and each wheel has a cylindricalpart for engaging a track and a flange for engaging the edge of thetrack and of sufficient width to serve to replace the dolly wheels whichare confined in the trough.

7. An adaptor as claimed in claim 1, in which the beam is open at thebottom so that the dolly wheels of the landing gear may projectdownwardly below the bottom of the beam, and the track wheels aremounted on the beam between the dolly wheels and above their loweredges.

8. An adaptor as claimed in claim 1, in which the beam has an openbottom permitting the dolly wheels to project below the bottom of thebeam, the track wheels are mounted at the lower edge of the beam, andthe means for guiding the wheels consists of guards projectingdownwardly from the lower edge of the beam at the outer ends of theWheels to engage the outer edges of the track.

9. An adaptor as claimed in claim 3, in which the beam has an openbottom permitting downward projection of the dolly wheels, the trackwheels are mounted on the lower edge of the beam, and the attachmentmeans comprises transverse members extending across the open bottom ofthe beam and positioned to engage the lower ends of the legs of thelanding gear and laterally removable means for engaging the upper sidesof the T-shaped hearing pieces at the lower ends of the legs of thelanding gear.

10. An adaptor as claimedvin claim 1, in which the beam consists of aframework including upper and lower rectangular frames, and the trackwheels are mounted on the lower rectangular frame of the beam.

11. An adaptor as claimed in claim 1, in which the beam is constructedof a framework including upper and lower rectangular frames, the wheelsare mounted on the lower rectangular frame of the beam, and the meansfor guiding the wheels consists of guards projecting downward from thelower rectangular frame at the outer ends of the wheels to engage theouter edge of the track.

12. An adaptor as claimed in claim 3, in which the beam is constructedof a framework of tubular members including upper and lower rectangularframes, the wheels are mounted on the lower rectangular frame of thebeam, and the attachment means comprises transverse members across thelower rectangular frame positioned to engage the lower ends of the legsof the landing gear, and laterally removable members for engaging theupper sides of the T-shaped bearing pieces at the lower ends of the legsof the landing gear.

13. An adaptor as claimed in claim 1, in which holddown elements for thetrack wheels are mounted on the beam for movement between a position inwhich they are outside the outer ends of the track wheels and a positionin which they extend inwardly below the lower surfaces of the trackwheels to engage the lower side of a track on which the wheels aresupported.

14. An adaptor as claimed in claim 1, in which holddown elements for thewheels are mounted on the beam for movement between a position in whichthey are outside the outer ends of the wheels and a position in whichthey extend inwardly below the lower surfaces of the wheels to engagethe lower side of the track on which the wheels are supported, actuatingmechanism for the hold-down elements extends longitudinally along thebeam, and handles for operating the actuating mechanism are mounted onthe beam near opposite ends thereof, so that the actuating mechanism maybe operated from either side of the semi-trailer truck.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,206,994 Craigmile Dec. 5, 1916 1,897,277 Reinhart et a1 Feb. 14, 19331,994,815 Ferrin Mar. 19, 1935 2,062,801 Talon Dec. 1, 1936 2,121,181Bayerl June 21, 1938 2,357,633 Cowgill Sept. 5, 1944 2,491,034 CouchDec. 13, 1949

